The Minnesota Vikings have learned a hard lesson. Last offseason, it was fine to confidently roll with J.J. McCarthy as the starting quarterback, but the failure to end up with a viable contingency plan proved fatal to their playoff hopes.
Average quarterback play, even just for more of the games McCarthy missed, could've won them a couple more matchups.
After the firing of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and with the heat turned up a notch on head coach Kevin O'Connell, the Vikings will be adding a quarterback to compete with or replace McCarthy this offseason.
It's just a matter of who the viable options are. But it's safe to assume all possible options will at least be explored on a cursory level to start the process.
Proposed QB trade options for Minnesota Vikings may cause rampant nausea
ESPN's Ben Solak recently took a deep dive into how quarterback-needy teams can address that need this offseason, from available options down to team-specific options that may make sense.
As usual, there are no flawless veteran quarterback options, since they wouldn't be available if they weren't flawed in some way.
In terms of how Minnesota might address its need for a quarterback, Solak (to his credit) extended beyond the most obvious to try to find some surprise options.
"Minnesota will absolutely bring in competition for J.J. McCarthy, as it reportedly tried to do last season with Rodgers. Cousins is the obvious choice because he has scheme familiarity from his time in Minnesota as coach Kevin O'Connell's starter.
But O'Connell is a big believer in quarterback development, and I would not be surprised if he wants to go for a younger player to challenge McCarthy's seat not just in 2026 but also beyond.
Every toolsy young passer who can operate from the pocket (Tanner McKee, Anthony Richardson, Will Levis, etc.) is on my radar for a surprise Vikings trade.
(It will probably just be Cousins, though, let's be honest.)"
Out of McKee, Richardson, and Levis, Richardson clearly stands out based on his postgame interaction with O'Connell in November of 2024. His future with the Indianapolis Colts is tenuous, to put it mildly, and it's safe to assume they'll try to trade him this offseason.
Otherwise, McKee has made two starts in two seasons as Jalen Hurts' backup in Philadelphia. Another team might eventually take a trade flier on his talent, but it's a long way from that to being a legit starting option.
As for Levis, he has been usurped by Cam Ward in Tennesee and he spent this past season on IR. When healthy, he has not been very good, as evidenced by the Titans earning the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft and using it on Ward.
Of Solak's proposed trade options, a case could be made for Richardson as a viable candidate to compete with McCarthy.
But that's like 99 percent based on O'Connell's aforementioned kind words for him. The remaining one percent is based on his age (24 in May) and the untapped raw talent he theoretically still possesses.
The Vikings are sure to aim higher than a backup who is either vastly unproven or on the outs with their current team in their search for someone to compete with McCarthy.
If the single move to add a quarterback ends up being one of McKee, Richardson, or Levis, things went awry in a way that's unfathomable right now.